Back to Your Roots
by EspressoShot
Summary: Blond hair didn't suit Ponyboy Curtis for very long. All he wanted was to get his tuff hair back.


Author's Note: I've been dyeing my own hair a lot recently, and one problem that I always encounter is that when I dye my hair a color that's really different from my natural color, I get noticeable roots. So since he had such a drastic color change, it seems like the same thing would eventually happen to Pony. This is just a little oneshot addressing what he does about it.

* * *

><p>The last bell rings, and you breathe a sigh of relief. The semester is finally over. You throw your books in your locker, slam it shut, and wave a half-hearted goodbye to your buddies from track. You know you won't see them during winter break. Your plan is to do nothing but sit on the couch, sleep, and maybe go to a movie or the library. Things just aren't the same now that Johnny and Dal are gone. You guess that it was just two deaths too many for you. It's all you can do sometimes to get yourself through the day at school. You tell yourself that Christmas will get you in a good mood, but you know it's a lie. You just wish you could have one damn Christmas where you aren't mourning someone. It sucks the magic out of it.<p>

XXX

Two-Bit appears out of nowhere and clocks you in the face with a snowball. He laughs hysterically, and Darry yells from inside the screen door that you both need to get inside. You'll get pneumonia with your hair wet from the snow like that. Two-Bit can tell that you're a little mad at him, and he offers you a less than sincere apology. You grumble a "don't worry 'bout it" as you walk past him to the linen closet to get a towel. You're in the bathroom drying your hair when you notice something.

"How long has my hair been like this?" you ask.

"What, you mean wet?" Two-Bit says. "I think about thirty seconds. Surely no more than a minute."

You walk out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Looking at yourself is making you sick. "No. I mean how long has it been two different colors?"

No one replies. Darry has his fists in his pockets, and he's giving you a strange look.

"Has it looked this bad since I ran away?" you ask.

He shakes his head. "It's only been real obvious for the past couple weeks. I thought it didn't bother you."

You flop down in one of the kitchen chairs. "Just didn't notice it."

You start absently combing your fingers through your hair. It's gotten longer, and you're glad for that, that's for sure. But you had no idea it looked so bad. Light blond except for about half an inch of your normal hair color up at the top. You've been walking around for God knows how long looking like a greaser girl. Not just any greaser girl either, but one of the ones who dyes her hair blonde, but always has just a bit of her brown hair showing. Those are the worst to you. Somehow they always manage to look the trashiest.

"You wanna dye the rest of it blonde?" Darry asks.

"No way. His eyebrows don't match. It looks dumb," Two-Bit butts in before you can respond.

"Gee, thanks," you say to him. You sigh. "I dunno. Maybe I should just shave it all off. Coach always bugs us to get haircuts in the spring anyway."

You really don't mean that. Thinking about shaving all your hair off almost causes you physical pain. You hated it when Johnny had to cut it, but compared to shaving your head, that's nothing. And you know it will take months, maybe even a whole year, for all of it to grow back.

"Y'know, Kathy's been talkin' about wantin' to go to beauty school," Two-Bit says. "Bet she could turn your hair red again for you. Shoot, I bet she'd have fun."

Kathy isn't the brightest bulb, and you're hesitant to trust her with something as important as your hair. But right now, she seems like the only option.

"Sure," you agree. "What can it hurt?"

XXX

As it turns out, it can hurt a lot. Kathy is almost in tears, and you have to fight back the urge to call her all sorts of nasty names. Johnny did a better job of dying your hair than she did, and that's really saying something.

"I'm so sorry, Ponyboy. I don't know what I did," Kathy says for the hundredth time.

You swallow hard and run your comb through your hair again. You wish that you could just brush the color out of it and start all over again.

"I said it's OK, Kathy."

But it's not OK. It's not OK at all. She turned your hair orange. It's even brighter than carrots and oranges and goldfish. It almost looks like one of those traffic cones that construction workers put out when they're doing roadwork.

"What can I do?" Kathy asks.

You want to scream at her to fix it, but you're terrified that she'll just make it worse.

"Just leave me alone for a while," you say.

You hear her quiet sobbing and Two-Bit murmuring softly to her, trying to comfort her, as they walk out.

XXX

There's a soft knock on your bedroom door. You don't answer.

"Pony?" Darry asks.

You don't respond again. He doesn't wait for an invitation. He just pushes the door open and sits beside you on the bed.

"What do you wanna' do about it?" he asks after a few minutes of awkward silence.

You sigh. "I've gotta shave it all off, I guess." You're too close to crying for comfort.

"I know you're upset," Darry says. There's a short pause. "I'm sorry."

You shrug. You're mad, but you're also trying not to lash out at him. It's not his fault, and you promised Soda that you'd try to stop fighting with Darry so much. You'll do anything to make Sodapop happy.

"We could go someplace if you want," Darry says. "Somewhere with professionals. They'll straighten it out I'm sure."

You want to say yes, but you know it costs money. You've heard Darry talking with Soda about how tight money is. Your hospital bills weren't cheap.

"We can't afford it," you say.

Darry doesn't reply, but you can see a look of sadness in his eyes. He knows. You've been noticing how sad he looks lately. Every time Soda goes out with his buddies, or you go to the movies, or he has to tell his friends he can't see them because he has to work, he looks a little sadder. You never noticed that about him before, and you wonder if he just started feeling sad recently, or if you just never noticed.

"Well, let me know if you think of another alternative," Darry says.

You nod. You've already started racking your brain for ideas, but you're not coming up with anything. Darry sits with you until you hear the clock in the living room chime half past ten. He stands up and says something about having to work in the morning. And then, out of nowhere, it hits you. You sit up.

"Betty," you say.

Darry turns around. "Betty Harrison?" He walks back over and sits down next to you. "Glory, I haven't thought about her in ages."

You hadn't thought about Betty in a while either. She was never that important to you. Darry went on a few dates with her toward the end of high school, and that was the end of it. But you remember that she loved to do hair.

"Did she ever get to beauty school?" you ask.

Darry shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I haven't seen her since graduation. Think she's still living with her parents, though. I'll call up there after work tomorrow and see if I can get a hold of her."

"Thanks, Dar," you say softly.

He nods and walks out of the room. Showing affection towards each other is something you haven't quite gotten the hang of.

XXX

Betty shows up not long after Darry gets home from work. She takes one look at you, and her jaw drops.

"My God, it _is_ orange," she says. She starts looking at your hair close-up, surveying the damage. "What did this girl do to you? Did you break her heart and she wanted revenge?"

Darry laughs, and you shake your head. "Just didn't know what she was doing."

Betty snorts. "Well, that's obvious." She takes a bunch of different bottles and an old towel out of her bag, and then she looks up and smiles at you. "Let's get down to brass tacks."

XXX

Darry sits on the counter and watches with a look of amusement. You can't tell if he's looking harder at you or at Betty. She's a pretty girl; hazel eyes and light brown hair. You also notice that she's a far cry from flat chested, and you hope that she didn't catch you staring.

"So how's things?" she asks Darry after a few minutes.

"Good as they can be, I guess. You?"

"Same. My parents aren't too thrilled with my decision to be a lowly hairdresser. But I have fun, y'know? And it pays better than they think. I haven't been worried about money for a good year."

Darry sighs. "Lucky you. Toss some of that dough my way when you get a chance."

She's quiet for a minute. "I'm real sorry about your folks."

"Thanks."

The silence is oppressive as she finishes putting they dye on your hair. You're relieved when she starts talking to you about what to do next.

"Sit here until this timer goes off," she says. "Don't move. You could drip dye on the carpet, and it's damn near impossible to get out."

You want to tell her that the carpet has seen worse and is already stained beyond repair, but Darry beats you to the punch. She laughs, and they walk into the living room, leaving you alone at the kitchen table. You don't mind. You have a book.

But you find yourself eavesdropping on their conversation. It's nothing interesting. They're just reminiscing about high school, and talking about who's dating who now, where everyone is going to college, and making jokes about teachers they used to have. Darry is acting like he did before your parents died, and it's intriguing to you. He seems happy, and after months of seeing him sad, it's a welcome change.

You almost jump out of your skin when the timer goes off, and everything after that seems to move at a freakishly fast speed. Betty leans you back against the sink, rinses your hair off, puts some conditioning stuff in it, and rinses it again. She dries it and combs it for you. She's smiling a big smile at you, and so is Darry.

"It's perfect," she says.

You look at yourself in the mirror, and you can't stop staring. Your hair is a bit darker than it was before, but you can't complain. Anything is better than orange. You can hardly manage a "thank you", and she replies saying you're welcome. You're in sort of a trance looking at your newly tuff hair, but you can still hear the conversation that Betty and Darry are having on the front porch.

"Thank you so much for this," Darry says. "I know he really appreciates it. I do too."

"I had fun," Betty says. "And it was good to see you again. I think you're one of the only people I graduated with who I can still tolerate."

He laughs. "I'm flattered."

A short pause, and then she says, "Well, take care of yourself."

Her heels click a few times on the porch, and then you hear Darry say, "Betty?"

Another pause. "Can I see you again sometime?"

You can hear the happiness in her voice. "You've got my number."

You hear a car start up a minute later. The front door closes, and suddenly Darry is standing behind you.

"You're pretty happy with it, huh?"

You nod. "Nice to have tuff hair again."

Darry ruffles your hair, making a mess out of it. You roll your eyes, and he laughs. As you start to fix it, your eyes meet with his in the mirror. For the first time in a while, you notice that he looks happy.

You know that things will probably never be perfect again. It'll always be tough for a family of orphans on the North end of Tulsa, and there's no getting around that. But your hair is the color that God meant for it to be again, and Darry seems to be re-learning how to live and be happy. You know that Sodapop will have another steady girl soon enough. It might not be easy, but you know things will balance out. One way or another, you'll always go back to your roots.

* * *

><p>I've never done second person POV or present tense before, so this story is a pretty big experiment for me. If you think it's a train wreck, please don't hesitate to let me know. I promise I won't be offended. That being said, any sort of reviews always make my day! :)<p> 


End file.
